Apparatus for packaging of goods, particularly from the sweets industry



Nov. 29, 1966 o. HANsEL ETAL 3,287,880

APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING OF GOODS, PARTICULARLY FROM THE SWEETS INDUSTRY Filed Jan. 21, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 .[zwemors M KM Nov. 29, 1966 o. HANSEL ETAL 3,287,880

APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING OF'GOODS, PARTICULARLY FROM THE SWEETS INDUSTRY Filed Jan. 21, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 29, 1966 o. HANSEL ETAL 3,287,880

APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING OF GOODS, PARTICULARLY FROM THE SWEETS INDUSTRY Filed Jan. 21, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 i F 3 I h a L++ E1 f ]3 I g T 17 l I l I I I i I 1 I l i 6 i i I T I i I l O I I I l .27 l u A E l I 77/ 29 I l f 7 1 Nov. 29, 1966 o. HANSEL ETAL 3,287,330

APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING F GOODS, PARTICULARLY FROM THE SWEETS INDUSTRY Filed Jan. 21, 1964 Sheets-Sheet 4 7 O {1 g o G 3 f?- 4. i 28 79 R1914 /0 M, E 7 I #27 *3 74 k \1/ I f n Lav k 77 H II {I 12 5 73 7 7 [#1 [:4 77777772 \m iL 3 id? 4 ffil 5y 1' fl\ F. 1

lm/emors NOV. 29, 1966 HANSEL ETAL 3,287,$$

APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING OF GOODS, PARTICULARLY FROM THE SWEETS INDUSTRY Filed Jan. 21, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent German Filed Jan. 21, 1964, Ser. No. 339,123 Claims. (Cl. 53222) The present invention relates to an apparatus for packaging of goods, particularly from the sweets industry, as for instance, chocolate tablets, chocolate bars, chocolate plates or the like, wherein the goods are retained with a cut of wrapping material disposed thereover between a lifting punch and a counter holder mounted on a reciprocating slide and fed through a folding box or the like, in which the partly folding over of the wrapping material about the goods takes place, whereupon during the return movement of the lifting punch finishing folders complete the packaging and the counter holder returns to its original position by avoiding the folding box.

Such known packaging machines permit only a slow operation, because the slide carrying the counter holder must remain still after each stroke, until the counter holder swinging out laterally of the range of the folding box s returned again into its operative position. The complicated drives required therefor increase and make more expensive the machine requirements. Furthermore, in addition to the folding box, an appreciable free space is required, in which the counter holder, which is laterally displaced and moved crosswise to its face, can return into its original position.

It is, therefore, one object of the present inventionto provide an apparatus for packaging of goods, which avoids the drawbacks of the known structures.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for packaging of goods, wherein a counter holder is mounted swingably about an axis disposed crosswise to the lifting direction on a substantially vertically reciprocating slide and is equipped with a control drive, which returns the counter holder, starting at about the upper dead point of the slide, upwardly out of the range of a folding box and after a correspondingly large slide return stroke under avoidance of the folding box swings back again within its rang-e. The counter holder performs, during an uninterrupted substantially vertical oscillating movement of the lifting punch through the folding box, a continuous oscillating movement in a moving path leading through the folding box only during the upward stroke, the latter occurring synchronously to the movement of the lifting punch, during the passing of the goods through the folding box. By this arrangement, a space saving construction is brought about, whereby, due to the continuous operation of the individual elements, an increased output of the entire machine can be obtained.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for packaging of goods, wherein the slide carrying the counter holder is mounted, preferably, on a vertical guide. The slide is connected with a rotating drive crank by means of a connecting rod and a link connected with the latter by means of a link pin, whereby the link .pin is additionally guided on a curved path. Furthermore, the guide carrying the slide is connected with the lifting punch pressing the goods through the folding box and reciprocating with the lifting punch.

With these and other objects in View, which will become apparent in the following detail description, the present invention will be clearly understood in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of an apparatus, for packaging of chocolate plates;

3,287,886 Patented Nov. 29, 1966 ice FIG. 2 is an elevation, partly in section, of a view similar to that of FIG. 1, yet indicating a different operating position;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus;

FIG. 4 is an elevation of the apparatus, partly in section, similar to that shown in FIG. 1, yet indicating still a different operating position;

FIG. 5 is an elevation of the apparatus, partly in section, similar to that shown in FIG. 1, yet still showing another different operating position, and

FIG. '6 is a schematic showing of the path of the lifting pinch and of the counter holder indicated in an exploded view.

Referring now to the drawings, the goods 1 to be wrapped enter on a working table 2 in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings, whereby the goods 1 are pushed along continuously by means of a slide 3, until they engage an abutment 4 provided at the end of the table 2. Prior to the abutment 4, the workin table 2 is equipped with perforations 5, through which a lifting punch 6 reaches with its lateral cheeks 7.

A conveyor path 8 is disposed at a predetermined distance above the feeding table 2 for the removal of the finally packaged chocolate plates 1' by means of tappets 11 mounted on chains 9. The conveyor path 8 has a recess 11 which is disposed within the axis of the moving path of the lifting punch 6 with its cheeks 7. Folding sheets 12 are disposed below the recess 11, which folding sheets 12 are adapted to fold over the lateral ends of a cut 13 of wrapping material fed over the chocolate plate 1. For the further folding over of the cut of wrapping material finishing folders 14 and 15 are provided in conventional manner.

In guide bearings 16 disposed on top of each other, a lifting rod 17 is guided in vertical direction, which lifting rod 17 is periodically vertically reciprocated by any suitable drive (not shown). It carries at its lower end on a traverse 25 the lifting punch 6 with the checks 7, which joins the movements of the lifting rod 17.

A slide 26 is guided on the same lifting rod 17, in which slide is mounted on a pin 27 the arm 28 for the springbiased counter holder 29 and a control lever 30 with a guide roller 31. On the other hand, a connecting rod 21 is pivotally secured to the slide 26 at its upper end, which connecting rod 21 is connected with the drive crank 19 keyed to the drive shaft 18 by means of a pivot pin 23 and a link 20. A control roller is mounted on the link pin 23, which runs in a curved groove 24, so that thereby a predetermined phase of the movement is forced upon the slide 26 during the rotation of the drive crank 19.

A slide lever 34 equipped with a longitudinal groove 33 and a driving lever 35, which has at its free end a cam follower roller 36, are mounted adjacent the lifting rod 17 on a pin 32, which cam follower roller 36 runs on a cam disc (not shown). In this manner, the sliding lever 34 is subjected to a swinging movement, which is transmitted to the carrier 28 of the counter holder 29 by means of the longitudinal groove 33 and the roller 31 moving therein, as well as a lever 30 mounted on the pin 27. The counter holder 29 swings upwardly and downwardly in a direction required for the packaging process and is moved by means of the lifting rod 17 upwardly and downwardly, respectively, simultaneously with the slide 26 by means of the members 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24. The driving elements and the control members are adjusted relative to each other such, that during a continuous upward and downward movement of the lifting punch 6 with its checks 7, the counter holder 29, which is resiliently mounted on the arm 28, performs an oscillating movement.

The movement paths of both elements are clearly shown further in FIG. 6, though schematically. For a better pres entation, the movement paths are to an extent shown in an exploded view. The lifting punch 6 with the checks 7 moves in the vertical moving path I in the direction indicated by an arrow. The counter holder 29, however, performs an oscillating movement in the path II, whereby it is moved in the direction of the arrow next to the path II and in particular, it runs synchronously with the same speed as the lifting punch 6 with its cheeks together with the latter through the folding box 12, whereby the chocolate plate 1 and the cut of wrapping material 13 are retained resiliently upon each other between both elements. On the return stroke, the counter holder 29 avoids the folding box 12.

In the individual figures, the different operational positions during the movement phases of the counter holder 29 are shown.

In FIG. 1, the lifting punch 6 is shown in its lowermost position. A chocolate plate 1 is advanced on the table 2 by means of the slide 3. The out of wrapping material 13 is then disposed thereon and then the counter holder 29 arrives from above, which swings into its lowermost working position and engages from above the cut of the wrapping material 13 and the chocolate plate 1. Now the lifting punch 6 and the counter holder 29 move vertically in upward direction through the folding box 12, as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings. As soon as the chocolate plate 1 has passed the folding box 12, a position shown in FIG. 4 of the drawings, the lifting punch 6 terminates its upward movement, while the counter holder 29 continues its movement and swings now about its axis 27 counter-clockwise, in order to disappear in downward direction during this movement. The conveyor path 8 has for this purpose an opening 37 (FIG. 3), through which the counter holder 29 can move through in a highly lifted position (FIG. The folding sheets 12 have also a corresponding recess 38 (FIGS. 4 and 5), in order to permit after the passing of the counter holder 29 through the opening 37 an immediate unobstructed forward swinging of the counter holder 29 into the position shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings.

Immediately after the passing of the goods to be packed through the folding box 12, the return movement of the lifting punch 6 in downward direction starts and the termination of the folding by the folding members 14 and 15 and finally the immediate removal of the wrapped chocolate plates I by means of the continuously moving carriers is brought about.

While we have disclosed one embodiment of the present invention, it is to be understood that this embodiment is given by example only and not in a limiting sense, the scope of the present invention being determined by the objects and the claims.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for packaging of goods, particularly from the sweets industry, comprising a working table feeding goods to be wrapped to a working station,

a lifting punch engaging one of said goods from below and reciprocating in order to lift said one of said goods,

a counter holder engaging a piece of wrapping matea folding box disposed above said working table and open at its bottom and its top,

said one of said goods being moved upwardly through said folding box while being retained between said lifting punch and said counter holder,

said folding box including means for at least partly wrapping said piece of wrapping material around said one of said goods,

final folders disposed on top of said folding box and rendered operative during the return stroke of said lifting punch for finishing the wrapping of said one of said goods,

means permitting return of said counter holder into its original position by avoiding said folding box,

means for pivotally mounting said counter holder on said vertically reciprocating slide for swinging about an axis perpendicular to the direction of movement of said slide,

means for swinging said counter holder upwardly outside of the range of said folding box upon said slide reaching its uppermost position and into the range of said folding box upon said slide performing at last part of its return stroke, and

said counter holder avoiding said folding box during its return stroke.

2. The apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, which includes a vertical guide,

said slide is movingly mounted on said vertical guide,

and

a rotatable drive crank,

a connecting rod pivotally connected with said slide,

a link connected at one end with said connecting rod by means of a pivot pin and at the other end with said drive crank, and

curved path means receiving and guiding said pivot pin during the rotation of said drive crank.

3. The apparatus, as set forth in claim 2, which includes means for connecting said lifting punch with said vertical guide for joint vertical reciprocating movement with the latter.

4. The apparatus, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said means for swinging said counter holder comprises a swingably mounted guide member disposed substantially parallel to said vertical guide,

said guide member has a pivot pin at its lower end,

a crank drive connected with said guide member by said pivot pin and causing a reciprocating movement of said guide member,

a lever mounted on the swinging axis of said counter holder, and

a roller turnably mounted at the free end of said lever and received in said guide member for longitudinal movement therein. I

5. The apparatus, as set forth in claim I, which includes a guide path disposed above and spaced apart from said working table at the upper end of said folding box, and

said guide path has a recess adjacent said folding box for the return of said counter holder into its original position while in turned-up position.

No references cited.

FRANK E. BAILEY, Primary Examiner. R. L. FARRIS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING OF GOODS, PARTICULARLY FROM THE SWEETS INDUSTRY, COMPRISING A WORKING TABLE FEEDING GOODS TO BE WRAPPED TO A WORKING STATION, A LIFTING PUNCH ENGAGING ONE OF SAID GOODS FROM BELOW AND RECIPROCATING IN ORDER TO LIFT SAID ONE OF SAID GOODS, A COUNTER HOLDER ENGAGING A PIECE OF WRAPPING MATERIAL DISPOSED ON TOP OF SAID ONE OF SAID GOODS AND, THEREBY, SAID ONE OF SAID GOODS FROM ABOVE, TO SECURE SAID ONE OF SAID GOODS BETWEEN SAID LIFTING PUNCH AND SAID COUNTER HOLDER, A SLIDE VERTICALLY RECIPROCATING ADJACENT SAID WORKING TABLE AND CARRYING SAID COUNTER HOLDER, A FOLDING BOX DISPOSED ABOVE SAID WORKING TABLE AND OPEN AT ITS BOTTOM AND ITS TOP, SAID ONE OF SAID GOODS BEING MOVED UPWARDLY THROUGH SAID FOLDING BOX WHILE BEING RETAINED BETWEEN SAID LIFTING PUNCH AND SAID COUNTER HOLDER, SAID FOLDING BOX INCLUDING MEANS FOR AT LEAST PARTLY WRAPPING SAID PIECE OF WRAPPING MATERIAL AROUND SAID ONE OF SAID GOODS, FINAL FOLDERS DISPOSED ON TOP OF SAID FOLDING BOX AND RENDERED OPERATIVE DURING THE RETURN STROKE OF SAID LIFTING PUNCH FOR FINISHING THE WRAPPING OF SAID ONE OF SAID GOODS, MEANS PERMITTING RETURN OF SAID COUNTER HOLDER INTO ITS ORIGINAL POSITION BY AVOIDING SAID FOLDING BOX, MEANS FOR PIVOTALLY MOUNTING SAID COUNTER HOLDER ON SAID VERTICALLY RECIPROCATING SLIDE FOR SWINGING ABOUT AN AXIS PERPENDICULAR TO THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF SAID SLIDE, MEANS FOR SWINGING SAID COUNTER HOLDER UPWARDLY OUTSIDE OF THE RANGE OF SAID FOLDING BOX UPON SAID SLIDE REACHING ITS UPPERMOST POSITION AND INTO THE RANGE OF SAID FOLDING BOX UPON SAID SLIDE PERFORMING AT LAST PART OF ITS RETURN STROKE, AND SAID COUNTER HOLDER AVOIDING SAID FOLDING BOX DURING ITS RETURN STROKE. 